THIS STORY WAS UPDATED
Coverage by the international media hasn’t been rosy for Prime Minister Petteri Orpo’s government. Munich-based daily, Süddeutsche Zeitun, christened it the Chamber of Horrors while Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung called the government’s start “a fiasco.”
Of the seven Perussuomalaiset (PS)* ministers, including the speaker of the parliament, Jussi Halla-aho, five have shady histories littered with racism, far-right conspiracy theories, sexual harassment, and neo-Nazi links and sympathies.
Even if National Coalition Party (Kokoomus) Prime Minister Petteri Orpo’s government started on June 20, it has been rocked weekly by scandals and revelations. The first on the chopping block was former minister for foreign trade, Vilhelm Junnila, who had a long history concerning links to neo-Nazi and far-right groups.
Even if Junnila survived a vote of confidence in parliament, he resigned two days later.
Every week there has been a scandal that eats away at Orpo’s government.
The MPs of the PS have given Finland its “Chamber of Horrors.” Source: Eduskunta
Purra, the minister of finance, is apparently embroiled in a scandal of her own making. In the 2000s she allegedly took part in a lot of debates about migration. She does not deny that her comments found on Halla-aho’s racist blog, Scripta, were written by her.
“Riikka,” who is the finance minister, jokes about violence against blacks and “recycling your cum, cunt.” Source: Twitter: @TapioKuusitapio
Purra, or “riikka,” commonly uses in her comment the n-word when talking about black people, strong sexual language, and even fantasizing about killing black people. She does not offer any apologies for her racist and inappropriate comments, even if she allegedly wanted to murder Somalis and spit on beggars, according to a headline by @hblwebb.
In a blog, she wrote: “As a member of parliament or as a minister, I would certainly not write or say or even do all the things I have written or done in the past,” she writes.
It would never occur to me to resign or to apologize for what I did and said years and decades ago. Why on earth should I? I certainly do not agree with nearly everything I wrote but with some things I do. I am not going to play games with the media and the left about what I am and what I am not. Or whether I have written this or not.
Considering the ideological issues and the hubris of the PS coupled with Kokoomus’ denial, some believe that the government’s life will be a short one.
